In an emergency situation, people need to quickly contact the appropriate agency (police, fire department, ambulance, poison control, etc.). Many communities provide a single telephone number, such as 911, which connects a caller to a central dispatcher to gather information and relay the call to the appropriate destination. In addition to locating and contacting the appropriate agency, the caller may also wish to notify other parties that an emergency situation exists.
Several systems and methods for providing auxiliary notification have been proposed. One system discloses a transmitting device with a panic button that is worn by a user that, when activated, transmits a signal to a base unit attached to a telephone. The base unit automatically calls a predetermined list of telephone numbers and plays a prerecorded message. Another system discloses attaching an emergency call monitor to a user's telephone. When an emergency call is made, the monitor waits until the call is complete and then automatically dials out to a messaging service that calls predetermined numbers and plays a prerecorded message. In yet another system, emergency call detection equipment is attached to a telephone switch and reacts to 911 telephone calls by activating a calling service to contact a predetermined list of telephone numbers.
One drawback of these emergency telephone call notification systems is the need for specialized equipment in addition to the standard telephone system equipment. Also, many existing notification systems have limited flexibility and only a few basic features.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method of communicating emergency telephone call notices to designated parties that provides flexible and efficient use of existing infrastructure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates an emergency telephone call notification system according to a presently preferred embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a contact list stored at the SCP show in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method of providing an emergency telephone call notification service on the system of FIG. 1 according to a presently preferred embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred method of contacting designated contact numbers, the method for use in the system of FIG. 1.